The Faces of The Dead
by Boxotron
Summary: Lowdown, a neutral detective on Cybertron, is one of the many to be called upon by the CPF to investigate a peculiar case. However, as he looks deeper into it, he realizes that he was already involved without even knowing. Who exactly is The Face?


Long ago, there was peace, and in it, order was established and all was civil. Then came the war. It had been imminent, yet all they did was shut their optics and ignore it. As the Autobots and Decepticons' war expanded and dragged other worlds into the conflict, the battlegrounds shifted and much of Cybertron became barren, devoid of population. With what little forces remained, there was no way to effectively enforce the law and as a result, Cybertron fell into chaos. Did this matter to the Autobots or Decepticons? No. They were consumed by the war, the one that had brought them to new worlds to ravage. My comrades and I had to fight our own war. As an agent of order, I had to do something. Action had to be taken, or else Cybertron would plunge into yet another dark age. I couldn't bear to think of that. My name is Lowdown and I have a mission.

It was another solar cycle in Kaon. I had set up office there by order from the Cybertron Police Force. I'm a private investigator, but really, I don't mind working with them. In this state, we had to band together. Under the Neutral Law Force Treaty, agreed on by both Autobot and Decepticon governing bodies, the highest form of authority over the issue of law enforcement was the Cybertron Police Force, a non-aligned organization. It was stronger back then. Under this, we've set up operations all over, even in Autobot and Decepticon controlled cities, not that it makes much of a difference. Here in Kaon, a lot of underhand business went on, even by Decepticon standards. Shockwave had been trying to stop the increase in crime by implementing the combat drones, but it didn't make much of a difference. Criminals and thugs just went even deeper underground. Well, I was going to root them out.

I was sitting in my office, reviewing some data I had collected from a local tavern. The bartender and I go way back, so I was able to get some potentially useful information. I was on the trail of a drug ring that was selling new models of alternate reality generators. ARGs were popular when the war began. The craze had died a while ago, only to be brought back up again recently. People's lives were wrecked over this stuff. I sat there pondering, trying to find a link between the information I got from the tavern and the information I got from an anonymous tip, when I heard a faint clanging against my door.

"Come in," I spoke.

The door slid open and I saw my visitor. He walked in and took out a badge. His armor was sleek, sharp and a vibrant red. Bold design for a cop.

"Good day, Lowdown. Overstep, with the Cybertron Police Force," he stated.

"Ah, hello Overstep," I began. "What brings you here to my humble office in the lovely city of Kaon?"

"There. A top-priority case, orders from the high powers." He threw a datapad onto my desk.

"Hm…" I looked over it and examined the contents.

I could feel Overstep's optics on me. He was standing there with his arms crossed, leaned up against the wall. He was expecting an answer, some time soon.

"You up for it?" he finally asked.

"…Yeah," I replied.

"Good. That's just basic information on the case. For security measures, you'll be briefed on it at the location given," he informed me. "All you need to know will be at that meeting so don't miss it."

I stared over at my half empty energon cube, but my hand hesitated to reach for it. I just swallowed whatever lump was in my throat without the energon. Something about this case was different. Something eerie… Something unnatural… Not that it really mattered, I like a challenge.

"Are there any other investigators on this case besides me?" I was hoping for a specific answer.

"Well, yeah. You think they would leave this up to one mech?" Overstep looked at me strangely.

"Do you know who else?" I needed to know.

"Hey, I'm just a messenger," he started. "I was just sent to cover all the Kaon-based operations. They don't tell me anything."

"Alright, thanks for everything," I said and shook his hand.

"Don't mention it, just doing my job." The look on Overstep's face indicated he wanted to add something to the end of sentence, along the lines of, "Being the errand boy of some higher up slaggers."

Overstep exited my office and I was left alone again, just me, my energon and my files. It was quiet and even the faintest humming of the lights could be heard. I took one more look at the datapad I got from Overstep.

"So… What exactly _do_ I have here?"


End file.
